Toronto, Ontario – In this weekly Tuesday Ticker, we look at some of the first highs and lows of the automotive industry, with Kia Canada reporting historic annual sales records for the end of 2024; while Hertz begins offering renters the opportunity to instead buy its stock of electric vehicles as it continues to downsize.
Record rates
Last week, Kia reported a historic annual sales record in 2024, selling a total of 86,657 units globally.
This record follows a previous high set in 2023 in which 84,768 vehicles were sold.
Of all the models offered by the automaker, for the third year running, the Kia Seltos continued to be in demand with a total of 18,706 units sold. This was closely followed by the Sportage at 15,423 units sold and the Sorento at 9,646 units sold.
When looking at electric vehicle models, Kia’s EV sales in 2024 increased 98.2 percent year-over-year.
In total, in 2024 the automaker’s sales rose 2.2 percent from the previous year.
As of Monday at 10:00 a.m. EST, Kia stocks traded at 100,500 KRW, down 1.28 percent year to date.
Discount deals
As Hertz continues to reduce its fleet of electric vehicles, it has announced that it is now offering customers who are currently renting an EV the opportunity to instead buy it at a bargain price.
In 2024, the company said it would sell 30,000 EVs with models from automakers such as Tesla, Polestar and Volvo due to increasing repair and maintenance prices.
One Reddit user commented on the social media platform that they were offered a 2023 Tesla Model 3 for just $17,913.
A Hertz spokesperson reportedly told Business Insider that this email campaign is part of an effort to give all customers an opportunity to buy EVs or internal combustion engines (ICEs) at an equal rate.
